Phatisa, a sector-specific African private equity firm, has hired Martin Kromat as Partner – Portfolio Management in its food focused fund.

Kromat is a seasoned commercial and financial professional with 19 years of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) experience.

He joins from Diageo, where he held positions of Supply Chain Director, Diageo South Africa and Finance Director, Brandhouse Beverages, Diageo’s joint venture with Heineken and Namibia Breweries. 

He also served as a non-executive director and member of the audit committee of Namibia Breweries. 

Prior to 2011, Kromat was with Procter & Gamble (P&G) where he worked for more than 13 years in several commercially focused and functional finance roles in Europe and Africa, which included finance director for P&G’s eastern and southern African businesses.

He has a combined Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Electrical Engineering from the University of Technology in Darmstadt, Germany.

Commenting on his appointment, Kromat said: “I am excited about joining the Phatisa team, with its sector-specific set of skills and experiences. I am looking forward to adding value to the existing portfolio companies and future investments by putting to use what I have learned over the years working in both developed and developing markets. And I am particularly thrilled about the opportunity to make a real difference in Africa.”

Kromat will be looking after Phatisa’s food fund, the AAF, which comprises nine portfolio companies across more than 15 sub-Saharan countries.

The Fund is more than 80% invested and, over the past few years, Phatisa has made a number of appointments to bolster the industry-focused portfolio team charged with steering the portfolio to drive value to exit.

Under the leadership of Peter van As, Senior Partner and Portfolio Director, Kromat will work alongside Nieks Bezuidenhout, who heads up the Fund’s mechanised inputs platform, Agricola. 

“Martin and Nieks bring a wealth of African FMCG, supply chain and finance experience to the Phatisa food and agriculture portfolio team, which will help create sustainable African businesses and further maximise investor returns”, van As said.

Phatisa’s 2017 human resources strategic growth plan has further been realised with additional appointments to the deal internship programme, the in-house environmental, social and governance team and finance support within AAF’s portfolio team.